The Outcasts
by Stargirlr
Summary: I know, I know. Lily and James were VERY popular in their later years... But what about when they had just entered school? Find out just how UN-popular they were and how they got to where they were. Confusing? Read and Review!
1. The Mirror

The Outcasts

Stargirlr

Just one disclaimer for the entire story. So, I'll make it good.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters copyrighted by J.K. Rowling. The plot, any original characters, names, places, phrases and words are mine and mine alone. Thank You.

Author's Note:

I'll begin this story with a bit of background information. My name is… undisclosed. I am fifteen years old, live in India, and (obviously) love the Harry Potter books. This is my second fanfic, the first being You Complete ME, which is also a Lily James story. I hope you will take some time to glance through that. My personal thought about that story is that, frankly, it is utter time pass. Enjoy!

The Outcasts is the first of a trilogy. The other two are probably going to be named The Sacrifices and The Rewards. Although I suspect this first story will stray a bit from my usual style of writing, I hope you will enjoy it.

A Quote I Love:

P.G. Wodehouse 'I believe there are two ways of writing novels. One is mine, making a sort of musical comedy without music and ignoring real life altogether; the other is going right deep down into life and not caring a damn.'

Let's see how this ends up, shall we?

The Outcasts

By: stargirlr

Chapter One: The Mirror

Lily surveyed herself in the mirror before leaving the house. Lily Julia Evans, eleven years of age, short, slightly on the chubby side, with too many freckles in her own opinion. Her sparkling green cat eyes, the only feature she like about herself were hidden behind an oversized pair of glasses.

"Red!" a voice came from the car, parked in the driveway outside.

Red? She grimaced. Why couldn't her dad get into his head how much she hated that nickname? Red…red, for her fiery hair, hair that she hated, with a particular vengeance. It reminded her…of her mother's hair. She had inherited her eyes from her dad Brandon and her hair from her mom Susanne. Susanne had died when Lily was only a baby. She could barely remember her anymore. But somehow, she wished she were here… at least today.

Lily glared at her hair. It had no right to bring tears to her eyes. No, not today, today, when Lily was going to be making a new start, away from all the teasing, all the bullies, and most of all, away from her idiotic older sister, Petunia.

She gritted her teeth and called up the stairs. "Petty! Dad's calling."

Petunia's nickname was Petty. And according to Lily, it suited her perfectly. She was always arguing over petty things.

A bony girl with a horselike face peered over the railing.

"I'm not coming." She snapped.

Lily was fuming. She had waited for over ten minutes, just waiting for Petunia to get dressed. And now, she wasn't coming? "Petty!" She cried.

"Just tell Dad that from now on, I'm not going to be caught dead with you!"

"What's wrong with me?" spluttered Lily.

"You? Well, lets see, shall we?" She smirked. " a) You're just a stupid kid. b) You're an official freak. And c) Mom died because of you."

"What?" whispered Lily. She was used to hearing reason a) since Petty turned thirteen three years back and reason b) from when she got the letter. But c)?

That couldn't be true…could it? Of course not! She tried to cheer herself up as she walked out of the door listlessly. Petunia, was, as usual, trying to hurt her. But no more! She was going!

She smiled at her dad as she climbed into the car.

Lily and her father stood in between Platforms 9 and 10, looking anxiously from the ticket in Lily's hand to the people around them, searching for a clue. Her father decided to go and ask one of the guards at the other end of the platform.

Lily stared once more at the ticket. It clearly said:

September

Platform 9 ¾

11:00

Hmmm… What had that man at Diagon Alley said?

Yes, go through the barrier. 'Go through the barrier?' she had wondered, but the man had mysteriously disappeared. Now what was she supposed to do?

She carefully inspected the people around her. Could one of them be a wizard?

Suddenly, she noticed a short, rather fat boy with a very protruding double chin, a few feet away from her. He had a large trunk in one hand, a skittering rat clutched in his other. He seemed to be looking at his feet rather than talking to the man and woman next to him. From the looks of it, Lily was sure that they were too old to be his parents.

"Excuse me." Lily approached them, unintentionally interrupting their conversation.

The boy looked up, glad for a distraction.

"Yes?" the old man stared at her coldly. "_Do_ tell me what need is so urgent that you must interrupt our private conversation."

"Er- I was wondering, er, ho--"

"Young lady, can you not form a complete sentence without using that detestable sound _'er'_? And have you no manners? Have you parents never taught you to introduce yourself before asking any abysmal questions?" said the lady.

Lily pursed her mouth slightly. "Good day, madam. I do not feel the need to waste anymore of your time." She turned around and walked back to her luggage.

A few minutes later, the fat boy came up to Lily, holding the rat out as a peace offering.

"Do you like rats?" He asked, a bit nervous. His grandmother had told him never to talk to people 'lower' than him.

"Sure." Replied Lily easily. She wasn't a delicate darling like Petunia.

"Do you want to hold him?"

"Yeah." She stuck her hand out, adding as a second thought, "My name is Lily, by the way. Lily Evans."

"Mine is Peter Jonathan Henry Wolfgang Kniver Pettigrew" He paused to take a breath, "the fourth."

"So, Master Pettigrew the fourth, dost thou knowest howest to gettest onest the freakin trainest?"

Peter grinned nervously, making an image of a rat grinning flash through Lily's mind. She looked down at the rat in her hand. So many striking resemblances. Hmmm.

After waving a (barely) teary goodbye to her father, Lily was finally on the train. Now, the only problem was…where were they going to sit?

Lily had found out that although Peter was part of the wizarding community, his knowledge was limited only to his family members, none of which, he insisted, attended Hogwarts.

So, for the time being, in the overly crowded train, all they had was… each other. Pathetic.

A thought flashed into Lily's mind, uninvited, unwelcome. What if, here too, she was… well, considered a freak? Lily hurriedly ushered the idea out of her head.

No worries. For now.

They wandered through the compartments, anxiously searching for at least a partially empty one.

Lily opened the next-door and peered in. This particular cabin was different from all the others. It had bright pink wallpaper, extremely comfortable looking armchairs, not seats and what looked suspiciously like a snack bar. Around this very cozy and warm looking environment were scattered rather un-cozy and un-warm looking girls.

Lily noticed with a tinge of admiration, overcome by pure nausea, each girl had a very beautiful face, each well-layered with make-up, a very stylish (and expensive) hair style, slim figures and each was wearing short, designer apparel. A very strong smell of mixed perfumes mingled in the compartment.

"Can we sit here?" she asked, knowing well the answer.

"We?" asked one of the girls.

Lily gestured to Peter.

The girl smiled coldly and called to one of the other girls. "Linda…"

Linda, tall, thin, blonde haired and red lips, lined and glossed spun around, "Yes?"

She had been lecturing to some second years about the importance of wearing blue shoes with pink nail polish. And she was not happy about the interruption.

The girl tilted her head toward Lily, Peter hiding nervously outside.

"Yes?" Linda cruelly directed her attention towards Lily. Everyone had stopped to stare.

"Can we sit here?" Lily asked, even more weakly now.

"What do you think?"

The girl shut the door with a bang, so hard that the door shut and opened again, with a largish crack.

Lily jumped back, the door just missing her nose, and winced. She shouldn't have been so… can-be-pushed-over-ish.

She eyed Peter in the corner, anxiously waiting, either for her revenge or preferably, for her running-away-and-hiding-in-a-corner.

She chose revenge.

Thinking carefully, she tried to remember a spell from the ones she had read about in one of the textbooks. The Pinocchio one. It had always worked at home with petty Petty. Why not here?

She crept to the crack and poked her wand through it, aiming carefully and murmured softly. A few moments later, a shriek erupted from inside.

She stepped back, softly closing the door, extremely satisfied.

As the screams grew, Peter moved away from her, asking fearfully, "What did you do?"

A voice from behind them answered. "The Pinocchio charm. Good job."

Lily and Peter turned to see a skinny boy of medium height, with extremely untidy black hair. Behind his own pair of glasses, Lily could see his slightly mesmerizing and currently admiring dark hazel eyes.

"Who are you?" asked Lily, her voice annoyingly shaky.

"James Potter, at your service." He said, a bit curtly.

"You…you won't tell anyone _I _did that, will you?" she asked.

James seemed to consider it. "Nah. I won't… if." He paused.

"If?" asked Lily weakly.

"If you tell me who you are." He was curious about this chubby little redheaded piece of spunk. Not even into the school year and she was already playing pranks.

"Oh…" Lily relaxed. "I'm Lily Evans and this is Peter Pettigrew."

"Lily…" He repeated thoughtfully, "and Peter." He added just to be fair. "So, why are you wandering around the corridors? Still haven't found a place to sit?"

Lily nodded. "Yeah, we started searching at the beginning of the train and…"

James nodded mystically. "Ah, yes… the trick to finding a seat is…" He explained as they moved on. "Is to start searching, not at the front but at the back of the train."

"So, why haven't you found a place yet?" Lily asked dryly.

"Ah, well, I never take my own advice."

"A pity."

He opened the door to the last compartment.

"It's here or nowhere." Remarked Peter, pessimistically.

They looked in. Two boys, the same age as them were sitting on opposite sides of the cabin.

One of them, a good-looking boy, with long dark brown hair, a gash on the side of his arm, was staring directly at them. Lily found the gaze aggressive but somehow, at the same time, looking into his gray eyes she intuitively pitied the boy.

The other one was seated next to the window, showing no signs of realization that they had entered. He was taller than all of them and had short sandy hair.

"Can we sit here?"

The tall boy turned to look at them and then half nodded. The other boy didn't move.

Lily, James and Peter gratefully sat down.

"Thanks," said Lily, moving her trunk in. "We wandered the entire train and couldn't find a single place to sit."

No comment.

Peter fidgeted uncomfortably. He didn't like uncomfortable situations.

The tall boy resumed looking out the window. James, sitting opposite him, also looked out, but could see nothing but the monotonous green-yellow of the fields.

"So…" James rocked back and forth. "What're your names?"

"Remus Lupin." Murmured the tall boy, still gazing out the window.

James took another look outside, making definitely sure there was nothing remotely interesting there.

"And you?" He prompted to the boy next to him.

"Sirius B--" He stopped short, eyes widening. "Sirius… just Sirius."

James rolled his eyes and mimicked under his breath, 'Just Sirius.'

"Anyway," Lily said, glaring at James and smiling motherly at Remus and Sirius. "I'm Lily Evans. This is Peter Pettigrewand_ that _idiot there is James Potter."

She could have sworn both Sirius and Remus had smiled slightly at the comment about James.

"HEY!" James retorted angrily.

"What?" replied Lily haughtily. She was going to have fun with James.

The three other boys were looking a bit more interested now and at the same time, a bit less uncomfortable.

"I'm not an IDIOT!" James exclaimed.

"Really?"

"Yes! Really!"

"Then sit down and stop acting like one."

James opened his mouth to say he _was _sitting down, when he noticed he was standing.

Sirius put a hand over his mouth and began coughing, trying to stay expressionless.

Remus was quickly glancing from James to the window, as if by looking at the landscape every other second was going to help keep him isolated from them.

Peter had stuffed his fist into his mouth.

James scowled at them, but quickly winked at Lily.

She smiled back at him. It looked like he, too, had realized that their 'fake fight' was opening out the others' self-imposed shells.

"Hey, you know… you're chubby!" He winced at the stupid insult and glanced at Lily. She was surprised… and hurt.

"Oh yeah?" She asked seriously, standing up slowly.

James glanced warily at the others and admitted. "Well…NO! You're not!"

Lily grinned at the comeback of sorts.

"Well, well, your hair is messy!"

"Yeah?"

"YEAH!"

"WELL, YOU'RE RIGHT! AND YOU KNOW WHAT?"

"WHAT?"

"I BET YOU.. YOU'RE BOSSY!"

"WELL, I BET YOU'RE… CONCEITED!"

The others were laughing out loud at the crazy predictions.

"I BET YOU'RE A… A SLUT!"

Lily's eyes widened. "I BET YOU SLEEP WITH EVERY SINGLE THE GIRLS AT HOGWARTS!"

After a pause, James grinned suddenly and the other three boys burst out into peals of laughter, Remus the only one trying to control his laughter in the slightest.

Lily's eyes widened once she realized what she had said. "AH!!! EXCEPT, EXCEPT ME! Except me!!!!!"

With tears of laughter and self-derogation in her eyes, she sat back down, still weak from laughing.

"That…that was the most fun I've had, in a long, long time." Sighed Sirius, practically wiping the tears from his eyes.

Lily grinned happily and then glanced at Remus. At first, it seemed to her that he had disappointedly gone back to looking outside, but then he turned to look back at them excitedly.

"WE'RE THERE!"

"Where?" Lily cried. Could they have already reached Hogwarts?

"HOGWARTS!" Four voices yelled into her ear.

"GET OUT!" Lily panicked.

"What?" asked the four male voices.

"I said," clarified Lily. "GET OUT! I've got to change into my robes."

"But Lily…." Whined James.

Sirius exchanged a sly grin with him.

Lily noticed and hit both of them on the back of the head. "OUT!!!"

Finally, they were inside… Inside that enchanting, huge castle.

A strict looking lady, introducing herself as Professor McGonagall had led them into a small room, before, what she called, "The Sorting." Lily was a bit scared. What could the sorting mean? To directly dispel any fears, (or possibly add to them), Lily questioned James, standing behind her, "Hey James! What's the sorting?"

"Don't you know Miss Perfectly Witchy Witch? I mean…" He paused for thought. "You can't be a muggle born… can you?" He looked at her interestedly.

"A what? WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" She didn't recognize this particular insult, but…

Remus and Sirius turned to look at her, wondering why she was screaming.

"Shh!! It's not an insult or anything! It just means that you don't come from a wizarding family… and I'm guessing from your reaction that you are a muggle born…" James continued.

She nodded. "So, what _is_ the Sorting, Mr. Perfectly Wizardy Wizard?"

"Well, I'm not sure… I think my mom told me something about some method of putting the students into different houses…" He squirmed uncomfortably.

"Houses?" asked Lily blankly.

"Yeah… Sort of like different… well, families… sort of…" He grimaced at his unclear explanations. "I hope all of us are in the Gryffindor…" He glanced at Lily. "One of the houses here…"

Sirius looked down unhappily. "How do you know you're going to be in Gryffindor?"

"Well, my families somehow directly related to him… I think he's my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-someone…"

"How many great's was that?" wondered Remus.

"Seven." Sighed James.

"Great!" Remus said sarcastically.

"All right everyone. They are ready for us now." Professor McGonagall ushered them into the Great Hall.

The First Years walked in and the other students became quiet, straining their necks to get good looks at cousins, prospective hot dates and the yearly group of wackos. Remus nudged Lily slightly. "Look up."

She did and gaped at the sight. The ceiling… well, there was no ceiling… It just seemed that the roof was totally open, letting in the dark blue night sky. She could even identify some of the stars and constellations. And she could have sworn she felt the cool night breeze.

Suddenly, the person in front of her stopped. Lily, who was still gazing at the sky, crashed into him with a loud thud. All of the students turned to look at this abysmally clumsy person and Lily turned a beet red.

Professor McGonagall, now standing near a tattered pointy hat, frowned at her over her spectacles.

Then, along with the rest of the student body, she turned to look at the hat.

It burst into song, startling Lily and the other muggleborns considerably. Lily couldn't remember the words later, but she remembered that it said in layman's terms, Slytherin was for the cunning ones, Hufflepuff for the hardworking, Ravenclaw for the clever and Gryffindor for the brave. But unfortunately, right now she didn't particularly feel any of those things.

Then clearing her throat, Professor McGonagall began, "Now, when I call out your names, come forward and I will place the sorting hat on your head. And there is to be no funny business. Is that understood?" Her eyes rested on Lily for a moment.

"Henrietta Abbot" became the first to be sorted, a Hufflepuff.

"Rachel A'rista"

A tall girl with a certain inward glow stepped up. All the students felt oddly captivated. After a few seconds, the hat announced loudly, 'GRYFFINDOR' and the Gryffindors began cheering.

"Bellatrix Black." A dark, exotic, but nevertheless beautiful girl swaggered toward the hat. It barely touched her head before screaming 'SLYTHERIN!'

James frowned uncharacteristically. He knew the Black family was as devoted to the Dark Arts as the Malfoys or Snapes or Hestons, the notorious 'pure-bloods' as they called themselves. James remembered his mother mentioning that Severus Snape was also joining Hogwarts this year, along with two of the Blacks. Of course, James knew Lucius Malfoy was all ready in school as a second year.

As James watched, Bellatrix Black walked to the Slytherin table, turning suddenly to flash a cocky grin at someone besides James. He turned to see who it could be, but saw only a nervous Lily and a sullen Sirius. Who had she been…

"Sirius Black." Professor McGonagall called.

Remus gaped, Peter blanched and James gasped silently as Sirius walked up to claim his full name.

Sirius was… a BLACK? They had made friends with a Black? James put his head into his hands.

Lily was staring at them, wondering what had suddenly happened. She shook her head softly and turned to Sirius.

The hat was taking an unusually long time to decide which house to place Sirius in. Finally, the hat cried, 'GRYFFINDOR!'

At that, James looked up and took a deep breath, Remus smiled weakly and even Peter gave a small sigh of relief.

Sirius stood up to scanty applause from his house, but it looked like he didn't particularly care. His face was torn between, what looked relief and worry. An odd expression that gave the other Gryffindors the unfortunate impression he was mentally subnormal.

Lily smiled pleasantly and reverted to praying inwardly. Let her be put with her friends, please pretty please God.

"Lily Evans."

Please God, don't let me down…

James shoved her out of the crowd.

'My, my. A clever mind, we have got here… Ravenclaw perhaps? Hmm, also a deep need for security, I see… And, what else? Why, great things can be expected of you… but I fear that depends on where I place you… Hmmm… How about… GRYFFINDOR!'

Lily grinned and walked over to sit next to Sirius.

After a few Ravenclaws, one more Gryffindor, and two Hufflepuff…

"Lupin, Remus." – 'GRYFFINDOR!' James smiled; it looked like most of his friends were in Gryffindor. He glanced at Peter. He hoped…

"Notting, Spencer." – 'Ravenclaw', a handsome boy with very shiny white-blonde hair…

"Pettigrew, Peter."

A general snickering emerged as Peter tripped while walking, dolefully landing next to Professor McGonagall's pointy black shoes. After a few moments of thoughtful consideration, the hat shouted out, 'GRYFFINDOR!'

James relaxed. Good, everyone was together then.

Then, "Potter, James"

James walked slowly. He didn't have any suspense…right?

Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head.

'Hmm… a direct descendent of Godric Gryffindor, eh? Seven great's? Hmmm, confident about going to Gryffindor. Too confident, I think. Well, why don't we maybe ease down that confidence…' James gripped the stool with white knuckles. No, this couldn't be happening… This was just like the dream…

The hat continued, ' Maybe put you in Slytherin? Yes, might as well…better be, GRYFFINDOR!'

James stood up shakily. He couldn't believe his ears…was it just his imagination or what? Now, what had the hat said? Gryffindor or Slytherin? Slytherin? Uh… He walked dizzily in the general direction of the Slytherins but Lily's persistent waving and Remus' and Sirius' identical looks of alarm guided him faithfully to the Gryffindor table.

As he sat down, the Sorting was almost over. ("Turner, Leo" and "Whitaker, Robyn" and finally "Zeigler, Jeremy")

Sirius said, "You alright, mate?"

James nodded dazedly and didn't even pay attention to what Professor Dumbledore was saying. On the other hand, Lily gazed solemnly at him entranced by the wisdom and understanding that seemed to radiate from him.

"To our new students, welcome! As all the older students _know_," His eyes flitted to a select few, "The Forbidden Forest _is_ forbidden… and our caretaker Mr. Lichen would like you all to know… from this year forth no magic will be allowed in the corridors."

At this, a group of seventh years sitting at the other side of the Gryffindor table gave a loud groan.

Professor Dumbledore looked at them through amused eyes. "I am deeply sorry, but the other teachers insisted."

One of the seventh years, a tall, rather handsome boy cut him off dramatically, making vivid hand gestures as he spoke. "But Albus! Think of all the missed opportunities! Think of how much the others will survive the dullness! And this is our last year! There's no reason to deprive all the forthcoming batches just because of us!"

His friends around him started laughing.

Lily looked at him, admiring. He spoke as though his particular group was the reason for the enforcement.

Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily. "I am truly sorry, Mr. Wilson. But I'm afraid the unfortunate incidents of last year…"

The boy with blonde hair sitting next to him pushed the Mr. Wilson yelling, "But that wasn't Nik's fault…"

Nik Wilson shoved him away and they were getting ready for an all-out pushing match before one of the girls intervened.

"Thank you, Miss Ahrmann." He nodded to the girl. "And may I continue now?"

The boy with blonde hair stood up and bowed. "Of course. Anything for you, Albus old chap!"

"Thank you, Mr. McEwan. And now as the end of this speech, I would like to say… eat up!"

"Hear, hear." The seventh year Gryffindors called loudly.

Lily glanced at the table, amazed. All of the empty jugs and plates were now filled with delicious delights. Lily could see her favorites among them.

Across from her, Sirius was busy filling his plate with more than two or three helpings of each dish.

"What, do they starve you at home?" asked Lily helping herself to the orange liquid from the jug.

Sirius looked up and saw that she was only joking. "No, no." He replied hastily. "I have an enormous appetite."

"So do I." Said a boy a few seats away.

"And who are you?" asked Lily rather rudely. But of course, he had been rather rude himself.

"Travis Hensley, the second." He introduced himself, sticking his hand out in greeting.

After shaking it, Sirius asked, "So, you think you have a big appetite?"

"I can eat fourteen pies at one go." Travis explained.

"I can eat seventeen." Said Sirius, competitively.

"I bet they're those small puny ones."

"They're five inches radius." He retorted through a mouth full of mashed potatoes, no gravy, just salt and pepper please.

"Well… why don't we just see?"

James looked at them warily as he spooned some of the stew onto his plate.

"You're having an eating contest?"

Sirius nodded brightly.

"Can I be the ref?" James asked, eagerly.

Sirius and Travis agreed.

Half an hour later:

Lily was sitting with her legs on either side of the bench watching Sirius and Travis become increasingly nauseated by the second.

Finally, just as ate the 23rd piece of carrot cake, he turned and…

"Yuck! DISGUSTING!" Sirius had vomited all over one of the second year girls.

"Oh, I'm really sorry…" Sirius was extremely apologetic.

Lily jumped to the rescue with paper napkins. "Here, let me…" She tried to clean up the girl's robe.

"Get OFF me!" The girl screamed. She had just been vomited on and now, this idiotic first year fat brat was pawing at her…

Lily was taken aback. Yeah, she wasn't expecting her to be pleased about Sirius puking over her, but she didn't need to be so… shrilly.

One of the older boys sitting near them came to 'protect' the girl.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Hey you, the elephant!" He pointed to Lily. "I don't want you to touch her, ever again, understood? And you, the wannabe Slytherin…" He looked toward Sirius. "Yeah you. I know you're a Black and Blacks are not welcome in Gryffindor! Now, you ever come near her or anyone of her friends again? You'll have me to deal with."

The boy glanced toward the teacher's table. They _had_ been making a rather big commotion and he could see McGonagall was about to get up. He stalked over to the other end of the table.

Sirius and Lily were still staring at the boy open-mouthed. What had he called them?

Lily, Sirius, Peter, Remus and James along with the rest of the Gryffindor first years were standing inside the Common Room. The Head Girl and Head Boy, both of whom were in Gryffindor, were giving them a small speech. Lily couldn't believe when she saw that they were-- Nik Wilson and the Miss Ahrmann. (Pronounced: Armun)

"Hullo, hullo, everyone." Nik said in a hearty voice, waving cheerfully at the first years.

Miss Ahrmann swatted him playfully. "Yes, hello. My name is Hayli Ahrmann and this idiot here is Nik Wilson." James flashed Lily a grin.

Conspiratorially, she leaned forward and said in a loud stage whisper, "I really have no idea how he got to be the Head Boy. But my money's on the fact that he bribed Dumbledore."

The First Years laughed.

Nik coughed loudly. "Ahem, well maybe, but at least I didn't have to sleep with any-"

"NIK!"

"Ah, sorry, now, alright, I'm the great and wonderful Nik Wilson."

Hayli groaned. "ANYWAY, We're Head Girl and Head Boy, _respectively._" She added as Nik opened his mouth. "You need anything, want to ask any questions, come to us."

She glanced at Nik dolefully. "Or rather come to me, or anyone of my friends. We'll give you the _right _answers." She turned to leave.

Nik said. "Yeah, well, Girl's dormitories, to your right and up. Boys, the same on the left. Good night. By the way, breakfast is at ten."

Hayli was almost all the way upstairs but she heard this last statement clearly. She yelled, her voice echoing down. "NO, IT'S NOT! BREAKFAST IS AT EIGHT AND DON'T YOU SAY ANYTHING OTHERWISE, NICHOLAS HUGO WOLFGANG WILSON." The slam of her door could be heard.

"Nicholas Hugo Wolfgang Wilson?" repeated James faintly, his eyes smiling.

"Yes, I am _the_ Nicholas Hugo Wolfgang Wilson." He smiled scaldingly. "Anyone dare call me that will not wake up the following morning. Good night all."

All of the first years began to walk upstairs.

J, R, S, L and P sat down comfortably in the huge armchairs. They weren't in any particular hurry.

"So." James began.

"So." Said Lily agreeably.

"So." James glared at her.

"So?" Lily turned her head haughtily.

"So."

"Shut up." Sirius' voice.

Both Lily and James turned to him. "So."

Lily asked spontaneously, "Are you ticklish?"

"What?" he asked.

"She asked, ARE YOU TICKLISH?" Remus said helpfully, being extra loud, as if Sirius was deaf.

"I heard what she said…and…Um…I don't know."

Peter looked at him surprised. "You… don't know?"

"No…" he replied slowly. "No one's ever tickled me. I mean, you can't tickle yourself, can you?"

James looked at him, "Haven't you got a brother?"

"Well, yeah… but, we aren't that close…" He looked at his robes carefully.

"Well," Lily smiled. "What are we waiting for? Let's find out."

They advanced, slowly and Sirius was just dreading the moment they reached him.

Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard from the boy's staircase, followed by the actual feet and then the body of Nik Wilson.

"Hey…" He looked at them, surprised. "You aren't fighting, are you?"

"Fighting?" asked James. Then he guessed what Nik meant. A very white Sirius surrounded by four people with their arms ready to strike. "Oh no. Not at all."

Another two guys entered the common room, laughing gleefully.

"Uh…what are they doing here, Nik?" said the blond boy who Dumbledore had addressed as Mr. McEwan.

Nik shrugged.

Suddenly, three girls also emerged from their staircase, Hayli among them.

''Hey guys." She said. Then she noticed the first years. "What're they doing here, Nik?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Ask them, right, they should know what the hell they're doing here."

Although his words were harsh, Lily could see he wasn't angry.

The girl with short pixie style pink hair and green eyes near Hayli rolled her eyes. She had a nose ring and from the looks of it, an attitude to match. (A/N: Think Marcus' girlfriend in _About A boy_)__

She walked up to the first years. "Hi. My name is Chrissy Curtis. Me and my friends were just wondering… what are you doing here?"

James shrugged and Lily said proudly, "We're tickling. Is that against the rules?" she added skeptically.

Chrissy grinned and asked, "So, who are you tickling?"

Lily pointed to Sirius. "This thing here."

"Hey!" Sirius yelled, opposed to being called a thing. "I'm living, you know!"

Lily looked at James. "Did you hear something?"

"Just the wind." Replied James.

In a few minutes, the seventh years had accepted the younger kids and were now arranging themselves on the remaining armchairs.

"Does the thing have a name?" asked Mr. McEwan.

The thing groaned. "I AM NOT a thing!"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. I'm Not a thing."

Sirius put his head in his hands. "My name is Sirius"

"Any last name, or is it Mr. Unknown?" asked the one of the other boys.

"Black. It's Sirius Black." He said flatly.

The seventh years were surprised, to say the least. A Black in Gryffindor? Good heavens.

"Nice to meet you." Said Hayli pleasantly. "Can the rest of you _things_ please introduce yourselves as well?"

"Lily Evans."

"James Potter."

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Remus Lupin and besides Nik and you and Chrissy, your names are?"

"Sean McEwan. Call me…" the boy with light grey eyes and blonde hair considered the matter carefully. "Call me Your Excellency." The third girl threw a pillow at his head. He ducked. "Okay, okay, call me Sean."

The last boy with black hair and remarkably blue eyes said, "Julian Hendricks at your service. Call me anything but Julia"

"Okay, anything but Julia." Said Lily smiling.

"Cameron Adams." Said the third girl. She had auburn hair, more brown than red, unlike Lily's.

"So why are _you_ guys here?" asked James curiously.

"Listen, kid. It's none of your business." Said Sean lazily.

"Why?"

"See, I'm big, you're small, I'm tall, you're short, I'm strong, you're weak, therefore, I'm right, you're wrong."

"Shut it, Sean. We're not in Matilda." Said Cameron yawning. "We were just planning to play Truth or Dare or something… would you like to play?"

"Cameron!" shouted Nik.

"Nik, give it up. These guys aren't going to give up easily. We might as well let them play and have some fun. They look to be pretty fun."

Nik sighed a little too audibly. "Oh, okay." He sat up. "Truth or dare? You young'uns know how to play it?"

"Seriously Nik." Said Chrissy. "Shut up. They're eleven, not five. As a matter of fact, I remember a first year who was willing to go till…uh… third base, was it?" She glanced at Hayli and grinned mischievously and Nik coloured.

"So what? I knew a--"

Cameron interrupted him. "Okay, this could go on all night… so you're playing?" She looked to the younger kids.

The first years nodded.

Cameron went on, "Alright, who remembers the truth or dare charm we made up?"

James was impressed. These teens made up their own spells?

"Khura-khota" said Hayli flicking her wand.

"Right." Nik said to the first years. "That's so that we don't have to make a real system of turns or anything… it chooses for you… plus it binds you to perform dares and tell the truth."

"Start." Said Chrissy.

A shimmery text appeared in midair, brightly contrasting the dim fire-lit common room. ' Cameron asks Julian.'

"k, t or d?" Cameron asked.

"Dare…" Julian relied.

"Hmmm….Hmmmm… Hmmmm…HMMMMM…."

"You say hmm one more time I'm going to hex you into tomorrow…" warned Hayli.

"HMMMMMM!" Cameron said.

Hayli got up.

Chrissy said. "Hayli, you've got witnesses." She glanced at the young'uns.

Hayli sat back down, glaring at them playfully.

"WELL?" asked Nik loudly.

"Ah, yes… I dare you to….sing…uh, Shake Your Bon-Bon, by Ricky Martin? Tomorrow to….er… Lance Heston!" She grinned at the thought.

"Grrr." Said Julian.

"Won't you get detention?" asked Peter.

"Yeah." Julian said, in an isn't-it-obvious tone.

"Uh, who's Lance Heston?" asked Remus.

"One of the Slytherin seventh years…. We don't…er.. like him too much." Said Hayli.

"Don't like him too much?" Repeated Sean incredulously. "We despise him and the other Slytherins. Except Andromeda." He added fairly.

"Andromeda's here?" asked Sirius astonished.

"Yeah… how do you know—oh, you're a Black as well! But, er, she said she hates her family…" Hayli twisted her face.

"She doesn't hate me. I know that." Sirius said confidently. "Could you tell her I want to meet her?"

"Sure thing."

"Okay, can we get on with it?" asked Julian. "Next."

The writing rose. 'Nik asks James.'

Nik grinned eagerly. "Truth or Dare…"

"er… truth."

"Truth?" asked Lily. "Is Jamesie-Wamsie _scared_?"

The others laughed as James struggled to defend his honor. "No…but I _am_ going to sleep with you!" He remembered the previous argument.

"WHAT?" asked Hayli.

Sean had fallen off his armchair laughing at Lily's expression…

After a few minutes of laughing and James wondering whether they were laughing with or at him, Nik said, "Okay…I got it! So, which of these three girls do you like?"

He pointed to the three seventh year girls.

James raised his eyebrows slowly as the girls looked at him, a bit warily, awaiting his answer. "Uh…none?"

Sean looked surprised; Nik glanced at him and then at Lily, as if trying to understand something. "Is that true?" Sean asked Nik.

He shrugged, something he had been doing a lot. "Must be. Truth spell." He turned to James. "So, any girl you _do _like?"

"Sorry! One question per turn." Said James hastily.

"Next." Said Chrissy involuntarily.

'Peter asks Hayli' read the script.

Peter squirmed uncomfortably. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

He squirmed even more. What dare was he supposed to ask the Head Girl?

"Uh…I dare you to… er…" He had a flash of brightness. "Never give any of us detentions."

Hayli grinned and nodded.

"Hey, does that include us?" Sean asked Peter.

Peter shrugged. "Er, yeah."

"Great!" He smiled and wondered, "Why didn't we ever do that? Would have made life so much simpler."

"Nex--" said Nik, but Hayli interrupted firmly. "Enough for tonight. We all have a big day tomorrow—especially them. First classes."

Then, everyone said goodnight to everyone else, a rather long but customary tradition.

Lily walked with the girls up to the dorm rooms.

They reached the door reading "First Year".

"By the way," asked Cameron. "Lily. Have you got any girl friends? I mean, any friends that are girls?" she clarified.

Lily shook her head no.

"Make some." Suggested Hayli.

"Don't worry. Even if you don't, you've got us. And plus all the guys, too." Said Chrissy kindly.

Lily thanked them, walked into her new room, and without changing, sank into her big, comfortable bed, wondering why they had suggested that.

(A/N: That's what I'm going to do as well… it's two thirty in the morning people!! Good night and other things.

By the way, I must warn you… My other chapters are going to be nowhere as long as this one… I mean… this was seriously tooooo long. Longest ever… at least longer than any chapters in this fic or in YCM (You Complete ME) written yet….

Oh, and I noticed I wasn't very….uh, funny… not nearly as nice as YCM at least. If you'd like to see more of the story, review! If not, still review! Ok, I reread this chapter for the fourth time or something and I love it!! Especially Nik and Hayli!? Do you guys like them too? Tell me!!!!!

Love ya,

Stargirlr)


	2. First Glances

  
  
The Outcasts  
  
By: stargirlr  
(A/N: Many thanks to those who have read or reviewed my new story!! My YCM readers all know my regular excuses as to why this chapter is so late, and as I think most of you have read this story are YCM readers, I won't bother with them… Wow, what a long, pointless sentence… Writing the excuses would have been simpler.  
Hmm… so, have you ppl gone to the new jkrowling site? Great, isn't it? I mean her style of writing notes and stuff is so funny… Reminds me of some of my more brilliant author notes. Smiles conceitedly Ok, so, basically, if you haven't checked out , please do! By the way, before you go running… or rather, clicking off to that site, please read this chapter! I worked hard for it!!)  
  
Chapter Two:  
The same night, at around two o'clock in the morning:  
Sirius heard the bird's tapping penetrating through the heavy silence.  
He woke up sleepily and opened the window.  
He could make out the red envelope even in the dim light.  
Red envelope! His eyes widened. At two!! He looked at his sleeping friends.  
He thought quickly and then removing his wand, created a soundproof barrier around him.  
He opened the envelope.  
"YOU UNGRATEFUL FILTHY SCUM! YOU HAVE SCROUNGED OUR PURE BLOOD!" His mother's amplified voice boomed out.  
James turned in his sleep.  
Sirius yawned.  
  
Remus entered his first Defense Against Dark Arts class fearfully.  
The thought had begun to haunt him day and night. What if someone found out what… well, what he was? He sat down wearily and glanced at his professor.  
Professor Taylor looked like she was pretty sharp as well young and attractive.  
And she was the D.A.D.A. teacher after all. She knew how to identify… one of them, right?  
Did she know? He thought anxiously, watching her out of the corner of his eye… Had Professor Dumbledore told the other teachers? What if she didn't know, and she found out and told everyone? What if— His course of thinking was suddenly cut off: class had begun and the Professor had started teaching.  
"Well students, Welcome to your D.A.D.A. class. Even though this is your first class, I do not intend fettering it away trying to learn your names" She said sarcastically, "or what your favorite ice cream is. We have time enough for that later." She paused abruptly and took a swift glance around the class. "Alright, now if you will all walk over here, I'll show you exactly what an African Gormy is." Forty-five minutes later, Remus was sitting straight up, rapt with attention, smiling to himself.  
This was definitely his favorite class.  
  
Nik and the rest of the group had somehow managed to 'arrange a meeting' between Andromeda and Sirius. At first, Sirius couldn't understand why it was so difficult… but he hadn't yet realized the enormity of the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry.  
So finally, one evening, he met Andromeda on the school grounds.  
"Siri!" A tall, exotic girl greeted him by his nickname.  
"Andy!" Sirius grinned. No one had called him Siri in a long time. Actually, he realized, only Andy had ever called him that… But the last time he had met her was… one year back. He remembered perfectly. The patriarch of the Black family, Andy's and his grandfather had somehow found out that Andromeda Black, from the direct line of the Blacks was living a Muggle.  
It was actually a very odd relationship, Andy had told him.  
She had never been happy with her family's thoughts about muggles… She didn't know why she was superior… why someone else was inferior.  
Once, when she had had some urgent work in Hogsmeade, with no overage wizard or any floo powder, she was forced to travel by Muggle transport. Andromeda traveled by train and on the journey met the first boy she was not distantly related to. She was instantly attracted to the charming young man who knew nothing of her family, her wealth or her family's power. Believing herself in love, she fled with him to his apartment.  
As she expected, she was disowned.  
Of course, Andromeda hadn't really been in love with him. She was dating someone else now.  
Andromeda hugged Sirius.  
"Andy!" he repeated, but this time with a slight edge of annoyance. "Don't hug me in public!" He hissed under his breath.  
"Oh, all right! So… you're not in Slytherin, eh? What'd your mum have to say about that?"  
  
James let out an exasperated noise as he desperately tried to control the wild growth on the top of his head, which, unfortunately, he had to call his hair.  
He was on his way to the first class of the day, Potions. The last time he had had Potions, Professor Rathbone, the horrible Slytherin inclined teacher, on seeing James, had inexplicably cut ten points from Gryffindor.  
Later he dismissed the reason as 'intolerable sloppiness' fixing a pointed glare on his hair.  
The loss of ten points had had depressingly negative effect on his already pitiable popularity. Earlier, people had just ignored him. Now, they avoided him. But of course, Remus, Peter and he suspected even Lily were just as unpopular.  
Sirius? Poor Sirius had it the worst.  
Actually, he had started off quite well, right in step with his peers… in fact, all of them had…but after the incident a few weeks ago? James recalled the incident perfectly as did Sirius….  
As Sirius had found out on the very first day of school, the day of the sorting, the other Gryffindors weren't very happy with a Black in their midst. At first, it had just been random comments and insults. Something he was used to. Later, it got worse: taunting, threatening, bullying and then actual physical violence.  
Again, something Sirius was perfectly used to.  
But not something, apparently, that James was used to. In the beginning, Sirius had kept the bullying to himself. After all, it was his problem wasn't it?  
But one day, when at the end of lunch, Sirius still hadn't appeared, ("Its Sirius! You know he can't miss a single meal!" James told Lily) James went to look for him. And James found him as well.  
In one of the back corridors, Sirius was being beaten up by a group of first year boys called the Leos', not incidentally led by a first year Gryffindor named Leo Turner.  
By the looks on their faces, James had clearly startled them.  
"HEY!" snarled Leo, a tall, rather fat boy with small beady eyes and a huge neck. "Get outta here!" James ignored him and only paid attention to the bloodied up boy in front of him. "Is that you, Sirius?" Sirius nodded, flecks of blood flying to the floor.  
"HEY!" repeated Leo. "DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME? I said, get outta here!" "Leave Sirius alone." Said James firmly.  
"I'm warning you!" said the boy next to Leo shaking his fist aggressively. James recognized him as Malone, a Hufflepuff first year. "Don't get in the way of us and this Slytherin." "He's not a Slytherin!" yelled James.  
"Oh really? So, you support him do you? You like this pretty boy Black whose parents have killed so many of our families? Why, I bet he has committed a few murders himself, huh, Black? Is our resident Slytherin a murderer as well?" "Shut up! You can have no idea that he's like his family. Maybe he's like Andromeda, huh?" "Andromeda, the seventh year Slytherin?" "Yeah, her! Do you know she's a great friend of the Head Boy and Head Girl and their other friends? What, you don't believe it? Ask them yourself." He pointed to a tall figure behind Leo.  
Leo and his gang whirled around to face Nik and Hayli.  
"Fighting in the corridors, Leo? Tut tut, Not that I didn't expect this from you… Ten points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Detention if I see you fighting ever again." He glared at Leo's expression of surprise. "Yes, Turner, from my own house… Now all of you get out of here." Sadly, rather than deterring them from bullying Sirius, Nik's comment had increased his unpopularity. People began following James and Sirius around, hissing "Slytherin" and "Suck up…" or "Head boy's pet" in their ears.  
When Lily, Remus and Peter found out, well, they were supportive of Sirius as well, sentencing them all to being outcasts.  
Travis had suddenly become very indifferent to their group, not nearly as nice as he was on the first night, but not downright rude either. James figured he was just not ready to oppose the public opinion of them.  
James entered the Potions classroom and began praying.  
Five minutes later, he sat down, cursing under his breath. Ten points…

Again…  
  
Lily entered her dormitory, dragging her feet unhappily.  
She hated this room. Absolutely detested it.  
Or rather, she decided, she didn't hate the room, what she hated was the people in the room.  
She plonked down on her bed, and examined the other girls.  
  
Specimen 1)  
Andrea Jenkins A Class 'A' snob. She dressed in the most expensive clothes and was quite pretty. All she talks about is Leo Turner and the newest witching fashions. She didn't like Lily simply because Leo didn't.  
  
Specimen 2)  
Rachel A'rista Exquisitely radiant and beautiful, has the entire male population at her feet and doesn't realize it. Very soft-spoken, Lily had hardly ever heard her string an entire sentence together. Although not very intimate to Lily, polite enough.  
  
Specimen 3)  
Robyn Whitaker A tomboy, shorthaired and Quidditch loving. Best Friends for life with Sunny Rio, a snobby Ravenclaw. She didn't like Lily, because she had, unfortunately, heard Lily say that 'Quidditch is the most boring game in the world' or something to that effect when Lily was 'fake fighting' with James.  
  
Specimen 4)  
Karen Stone A small, mousy girl. Sweet and friendly by nature, she had been 'kidnapped' by Andrea. Too bubbly, according to Lily.  
  
Specimen 5)  
Frieda Young Short and baby cute, she followed Andrea everyone, and envied Karen because she's Andrea's supposed best friend.  
  
Specimen 6)  
Lily Evans Depressed, unpopular, alone, lonely…  
  
Lily pulled the curtains around her bed and sat cross-legged and absolutely still for a few moments. Then, from her bedside table, she snatched up a still photo of her mother.  
Sleeping on her stomach and gazing deeply into the photo's unmoving eyes, she began to cry.  
  
Susanne, Lily's mother had enrolled her, all of five and half, in an elite neighborhood, privately owned nursery school, a place where only the wealthiest socialites sent their pampered and spoilt brats.  
But, that was what Lily was. Pampered, spoilt and every bit a brat.  
Her mother was a self-made woman. She didn't depend on her husband in the least, and her husband knew and detested the fact. Susanne had written two or three romantic novels, soppy rot, as she called it, which had made her a fortune.  
That's why, Lily, although not typically rich, was being sent to Little Angels Nursery.  
Little Angels, indeed.  
At first, it was fun… Her classmates were just like her. They knew that they could ask for the moon and they could get it.  
  
But one day, Lily found out… Susanne had cancer—malignant cancer just diagnosed in its last stages. The family was devastated. The doctor suggested chemotherapy, surgery, anything, everything. And that's where the family's last pence went-- in slowing Susanne's certain death. Finally, they had tried everything and now? There was nothing, the doctors said, nothing they could do.  
  
One day, Lily came home--- Brandon, her father, was standing outside the house, staring blankly at the gray sky.  
"Hi daddy! Guess what I did at school?" "I don't want to know." Came a stony answer.  
Lily's face fell and then brightened. "That's okay, daddy. I'll tell mummy." As she tried to open the door, her father sat down and hugged her tightly.  
"What's… what's wrong, daddy?" She said, scared for the worst possible thing.  
He hugged her even more tightly and from his mouth pressed down on Lily's shoulder came the muffled answer. "I'm sorry honey. Mummy… mummy's left us." Lily struggled out of her father's strangely claustrophobic hug.  
"No… no, daddy. You know it's bad to tell fibs, daddy. Grandma, she told me so." She said, tears running down her face.  
"I'm sorry honey." Her father repeated.  
She ran into the house, screaming, calling her mummy.  
Lily checked every last room, including the attic and basement. Lastly, as the last shred of hope, she entered Petunia's room.  
Petunia was on her bed, lying face down. She looked up when Lily entered, her eyes red from incessant crying.  
"Petty?" asked Lily cautiously. "Mummy's gone?"  
  
Petunia nodded.  
  
After her mother's death, the family moved to a smaller, more economically viable apartment. Lily was removed from her nursery and enrolled in someplace 'closer to home'. Lily knew what that meant.  
It meant that all her family's money had been spent on her mother. Now she was being sent to a public school.  
At her new school, St. Teresa's, one of the other girls, Katie Ruskin, found out that Lily used to go to a private school. On hearing this, Katie, fierce with a mixture of fear, envy and admiration, rounded up a gang of her friends. With her gang on one side and lone Lily on the other, they began a vicious war of taunting, fighting, scratching and threatening.  
On the home front, for many months at a time, her father could not get a job. And when he occasionally did, more sooner than later, he would get fired. The family's money problem pressurized them all. Both Lily and Petunia wore their old clothes repeatedly. Petunia, older than Lily by a good five years felt the pinch more. She had been used to having the newest, most fashionable garments and then suddenly…  
  
When Lily's father wasn't home, and that was often, he would be out in some pub, drinking for hours on hours. On such days, Petunia would baby sit Lily. When their father did come home at some unearthly hour, either Lily or Petunia would lock the door of their common bedroom.  
Once, the first time, they had left it open… At a quarter past two, Lily felt someone shaking her. She opened her eyes and saw her father through the dim streetlights outside her bedroom window. He held a pair of scissors in his hand and was mumbling something repeatedly.  
"Damn stupid hair, just like her mother's, had to go and leave us… all alone, all alone we are, and I'LL CUT OFF YOUR HAIR, you stupid girl…" At this juncture, Petunia had also woken up. "Dad?" Brandon turned to her.  
"Dad, please go away. Now, dad." She said firmly, not letting her father realize the fear seeping through her. To her amazement, her father actually listened to her.  
Maybe that's why Petunia was so bitter. At the age of eleven, she had been roped in to be a mother to Lily. She had spent almost five years of her life taking care of her sister.  
  
The next morning, and every morning after a drunken night, Brandon would apologize to his daughters, begging forgiveness for whatever he had done last night.  
Of course, Lily and Petty would forgive him. After all, what else could they do?  
  
And everyday when Lily came home, she would finish her homework and then mooch around her shabby house, eating out the stock of food in the fridge and the cupboards. What else was there to do?  
No friends of Lily lived nearby, but she wasn't allowed to go out alone anyway, so that didn't matter.  
No T.V., no video games, no nothing.  
All she could do was eat. The Government had given them food stamps for that.  
That's when she had grown really fat… After months on months of diets, exercises and Petunia's constant drilling, Lily had come back down to "Slightly Overweight".  
  
Just as depressed Lily was, with her studies and her few friends, the days flew by for her as well as for everyone else.  
Suddenly, it was November, November 27th to be precise, dark and gloomy… What a perfect day to be born, thought Sirius sarcastically.  
He stared at his watch nonchalantly. When his friends had found out that his birthday was coming up, he had begged them not to do anything special. But today, it looked like they were bent keen on doing exactly the opposite.  
In fact, James had told him to wait in their dormitory for a 'surprise'. Suddenly, surprise, surprise, James pushed the door open and with a flick of his wand, the lights turned out.  
"Happy Birthday to you… Happy Birthday to you…. Happy Birthday dear Sirius… Happy Birthday to YOU!" the chorus of James, Remus, Peter and Lily's voices sang.  
Lily entered last, holding a cake, brightly lit by eleven small candles.  
"Guys…" Sirius said softly, his gray eyes, shining in the candlelight.  
"I know, I know. We shouldn't have!" Lily cried, grinning.  
Sirius put his head in his hands, his voice muffled, "I've never had a real… a real birthday cake before… Thanks… a lot…" Lily's contagious grin had spread and now all of them were smiling.  
"You guys… you're…" Sirius said.  
Everyone paused to humbly and modestly disagree.  
"You're just some crazy eggshells!" Sirius ended and began laughing loudly.  
They stared at him open-mouthed.  
"Crazy what's?" asked Remus in disbelief.  
"You heard me… eggshells!" He fell on his bed, howling.  
  
Christmas time came quickly enough. None of the group went home and none of them asked why.  
The morning after the holidays had begun, Peter received an owl from his grandparents.  
The owl had appeared during breakfast, along with James' daily newspaper.  
Peter took it into his hands, staring at it with fear and a bit of disgust. He threw into his bag.  
"Aren't you going to read it?" asked Lily curiously.  
Peter sighed and picked it up. Tearing it open, he glanced at it listlessly and threw it to Lily's side.  
She read,  
My Dear Peter Jonathan Henry Wolfgang Kniver Pettigrew the fourth,  
Both your grandfather and I were very disappointed to receive intimation that you would not be spending this Christmas in our presence. I hope you know that this action will not be taken lightly…yada, yada, yada, annoyed with your absence, blah, blah, blah, since your parent's death, we have treated you as our son, this is the way you repay your gratitude… Lily dropped the letter. "I'm so sorry, Peter…" She looked up at him sympathetically.  
He just shrugged awkwardly and turned away.  
All of them were silent.  
  
(A/N: Alrighty, how'd'you like that!! I'm sorry to end on a sad note… but the thing is, I wanna wrap up the first three years or so ASAP. I prefer writing nice, funny, fuzzy stories as compared to writing these long angsty chappies. Not as long as the first chapter but not as short as my YCM chappies… this chapter is about 3 thou words long. My YCM chapters range from 800 to 1500. Be happy!! Oh, by the way, does anyway agree with me when I say that this chappie was just a ' dukh-bhari kahani'?  
That means, do you think this was too angsty? Tell me… I'd love to lighten it.)


End file.
